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Tag Archives: People who inspire me

I received news this morning of the death of Jim McDaniel, “Cousin Jim.” He was ninety-one. We weren’t cousins, but that is how Jim characterized our relationship. Jim and his wife, Pat, were married forty-eight years at the time of his death, May 29, 2013. Between them, they have eleven children: Jim’s five children, Pat’s […] (Read more)

Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman’s collection of free-verse poems in tribute to America, was first published in 1855. I was introduced to Whitman by my friend, Richard. I was twenty. Richard was forty. Richard had a degree in literature from Bard College. I thought he was brilliant; he became a sort of intellectual godfather and […] (Read more)

I love to cook. My grandmother taught me how to cook. She thought boys should know how to sew on a button and how to cook. The first thing she taught me to prepare was a casserole she called her “Chi-nee” noodle dish. Easy to put together, I made it at least a hundred and […] (Read more)

is for Virginia Danzy. Mrs. Danzy was my seventh grade homeroom teacher. The first teacher of the first class on the first day of junior high school. Statuesque, middle-aged, with beautifully coiffed graying hair, and always smartly dressed. It was love at first sight. I spent the first three periods of the day with Mrs. […] (Read more)

is for Ulysses. Miss Lois Baumgartner, my ninth grade English teacher, introduced me to Ulysses. Ulysses is the Roman name of Odysseus, the legendary Greek king of Ithaca and a hero of Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey. Barely five feet tall, matronly, with a shock of curly white hair, Miss Baumgartner was an epic force […] (Read more)

is for Clarke and Wendy Oler. Clarke was the Associate Rector for Pastoral Care at All Saints Church Pasadena when I began attending in 1987. The church’s Covenant Program was the pathway to membership. I signed up. At the core of the All Saints ministries was small group interaction. The Covenant Program, directed by Clarke, […] (Read more)

is for John. Married to a cradle Catholic who was disillusioned with the church but who returned after our first daughter was born, I decided to become a Catholic. Choosing a confirmation name is an ancient tradition of the church. Though no longer mandatory since Vatican II, the confirmands in my class were encouraged by […] (Read more)

When I retired, I joined a memoir writing group. The ten members of the group meet weekly for six weeks, three to four times a year. My mother was my inspiration for writing a memoir. Mom wrote her memoir in 1991. She and a group of friends took an autobiography writing course offered through a […] (Read more)

A piece of wood. Birch, I think. Five and seven-eighths by eight-and-a-quarter inches with an ogee beveled edge. An Amanda Bradley Hallmark Card poem, cloyingly sweet, glued to its face. On the back is an inscription written in pencil: “2-14-83. To Dennis and Mary, Two very special people. With love, Aunt Richie.” It’s in a […] (Read more)

Bob continues to recover from a brutal and horrific assault. He deals with a traumatic brain injury owing to extended oxygen deprivation. Identification of any cognitive deficits will be determined by neurological and psychological evaluations later this month. Dawn and Keith (his daughter and son-in-law and primary care givers), with the help of Bob’s therapist, […] (Read more)